


The rest is anyone's guess

by qwanderer



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Multi, Other, Polyamory Negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 04:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18161675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwanderer/pseuds/qwanderer
Summary: "So," says Dan, "they're definitely not going to, say, bite off Anne's head, or mine, in a jealous rage?"Venom, licking the last of the ganache from their teeth, glares at Dan.





	The rest is anyone's guess

**Author's Note:**

> Title and quoted lyrics are from Carbon Leaf's _A Girl and Her Horse_ because Dan is a goofball and so am I.

Dan and Anne have Eddie over for dinner every week, as a rule, mostly to make sure he's okay. Anne gets antsy when she hasn't heard from him in too long, starts talking about the kinds of trouble he could be in. They have known for a few weeks now that Venom survived the explosion at the LIFE Foundation. Dan still isn't sure whether it makes the whole talking-to-himself thing less concerning, or moreso. 

Physically, he seems healthy, so at least Eddie and Venom seem to have worked out that issue. Apparently chocolate is an acceptable nutritional supplement for a Klyntar symbiote. But even so, ever since they found out that Eddie is still playing host to a black goo alien whose preferred diet is human flesh, Dan has found himself asking afterwards, "So we really aren't going to try to separate them again?" 

Anne had to think about it the first few times, but last week she'd just scoffed and said "No." Dan had left it at that. 

This week, she turns to him and says, "You're really worried about him, aren't you?" 

"Yeah," he says. "Aren't you?" 

"Constantly," Anne replies. "But, you know. Not... really any more than before this whole mess." 

"Huh," he says. "You know, I've been concerned that having an alien of a species inclined to conquest and control sharing his brainspace might be warping his personality. But...." 

"Yes?" Anne asks. 

"Was he always like this?" 

Anne laughs. "Yes, he was always like this. Well. That's an oversimplification. But. Impulsive? Strange? The attention span of a squirrel unless he's chasing down something really juicy? Yes. That's Eddie Brock for you." She squinches up her face in the way that Dan has always found extraordinarily adorable, and then continues. "I think Venom has actually made him healthier, you know? I mean. Obviously they had a lot to work out in the beginning. Venom was just really, really confused by human systems of morals and values." 

Dan hums thoughtfully. "Think they learned anything from being in your head?" 

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I do." There's laughter in Anne's voice, and that, more than anything, reassures Dan that she's really all right with what went on while she had been host to Venom herself. "I mean, we were both a little distracted at the time trying to find Eddie and save the world, but. I could feel them. Leafing through my knowledge, looking for anything useful. Combustion-fueled vehicles and how they fail was a big hit at the time - lots of crime scene photos in there I'd tried to forget and thought I'd succeeded - but, you know, I got the feeling they couldn't help absorbing the context. How I felt about what had been done and what hadn't been done. What should have been done." 

"Really, all of that?" 

"Yeah," she says, nodding. "Well. In a vague sort of way. Like, they weren't at the point where they knew the steps to the dance, but they were starting to be able to feel the rhythm, if that makes sense." She laughed at herself. "That didn't make any sense, did it?" 

"No, it totally does," he says, because it sounds poetic and meaningful, and he suspects that he's simply missing context. 

Come to think of it, that's probably relevant to the whole concept. 

But the important thing is that she thinks Venom has the ability to learn that stuff. 

"So you're not worried about Venom being in Eddie's head constantly?" he asks. 

"No, I feel like... it might be exactly the kind of thing Eddie needed." She sighs. "He was always... looking for something meaningful, you know? Looking for the next step, the next thing. He always wanted to tell people how the world worked, make them better. He's a good guy, you know? He tries so hard. I was so angry after I lost that job, but... now that I'm not, I do see where he was coming from. He might be exactly the right person to represent us to a new alien species." 

Dan considers her for a long moment. 

"You really miss him, don't you," he says at last. 

He can see her processing that, realizing that he can't mean it in a friendly way, not since they see Eddie every week, now. She doesn't deny it. 

"Dan," she says at last. "Dan, I love you." 

She makes that so evident in so many ways. "I don't doubt that," he says. "Not for a second. But you love him, too." 

Anne's jaw tenses. She sits in silence for a moment. Then she says, "Shit." 

"Yeah," Dan agrees. 

Anne turns to look at him. "What are we going to do?" 

Dan has to admit, if only to himself, that he's relieved to hear that "we." They're a team, a unit, Anne and Dan, no matter that Anne and Eddie have a much longer history, no matter that they feel for each other still. 

"Well," Dan says, "there are actually a lot of options." 

Anne looks at him, a puzzled and inquisitive frown sitting between her brows. "You've thought about this, haven't you?" 

Dan shrugs. "Honestly? I kind of expected to be having this conversation sooner or later." 

There's tension in her shoulders as she asks, "And what conversation would that be?" 

"The 'are we going to be non-exclusive' conversation." 

"Really?" She still looks perplexed, but at least she seems to have relaxed a little. 

"Remember when you tried to reassure me that there was nothing going on between you and Eddie, right after we'd seen the alien goo thing that had been living inside him for the first time? That was what you were worried about. That I'd see how much you still cared about him. Because you're persistent like that. Once you care, you keep caring. No matter whether you think you should." 

"I, uh. Dan." She's trying to pretend she's not on the edge of tears. She's really good at it. But Dan knows her. 

"Anne. You are incredible. Beautiful. Intelligent. Driven. A hotshot lawyer. Let's be honest, you could have pretty much anyone you wanted. And for some reason, you wanted me. I wasn't going to waste that opportunity. But there were always reasons for me to think you might want something else, too. Someone else. You live for excitement. You're drawn to chaos. I'm... not that." 

"You're not exactly boring," Anne protested. "You're... you're _Dan._ " She says it like it's something epic. 

Yeah, he's not worried about losing her. 

"I know," he says. "I know." 

"Is this..." She sniffs. "Is this really okay?" 

"I have my concerns," he says. "And Venom is at the top of that list. But you don't seem concerned about them, so I'm willing to give them a chance. But your level of commitment to us?" He smiles gently. "Not a concern." 

"I'm not going to do anything about this if you have any reservations," Anne tells him. "I'm happy being friends with Eddie." 

It's a little bit of a lie, Dan can tell. 

"I know you and Eddie both trust Venom, at least in some capacity. I'm not there yet, myself, but maybe I can get there." 

Anne gives him a brilliant, slightly damp smile, and Dan knows that he is lost to her forever. Whatever she wants, she gets. 

* * *

Anne usually sends a weekly reminder text the day before their dinners, but this time Dan sends one, too. 

**& Dan:** _So, uh. Just a heads up. We have something we want to talk to you about while you're here._

Venom pokes around, curious, trying to figure out why Eddie keeps staring at the text, reading it over and over again. 

**You think you know what it is?** they ask. 

"Yeah," Eddie says. "They're probably engaged." 

**You feel... different ways about this.**

"She deserves to be happy," Eddie insists, to both of them. "We are. Huh?" 

**Yes, Eddie.** They are both thinking about the two of them now, what they are to each other, and it's a warm ball of happy feelings in their gut. They love each other, and it is delicious. **But you feel another way, too.**

Eddie sighs, shakes his head. "She deserves this," he says. 

**But why Dan?** V puts into words what both of them are thinking and feeling. 

Venom/Eddie's thoughts about Dan are confused. He's nice. He's mild and maybe sometimes seems kind of boring. He has the chops to stand up to Venom, which is a point in his favor, but beyond that... they really just don't get why Anne loves him. 

V pokes at the ball of confusion in Eddie's mind. Pulls a thread, tries to find out what it consists of. 

"Did she want that all along?" Eddie asks once that element is brought to his attention. "Was that what she wanted me to be?" 

**No. Eddie,** Venom reassures. **She is still totally into you. Otherwise I would not have suggested that we win her back.**

"Huh," Eddie says, feeling the truth of that in V's mind. 

He looks at the text again. 

"Huh." 

* * *

For dessert at the next dinner, Dan makes a dozen chocolate lava cakes, placing ten of them in front of Eddie and Venom. One of them is on a plate like Anne and Dan have, and the other nine are on a larger tray. V happily sticks their tongue directly into the center of their first one before plucking it up and swallowing it whole. 

Eddie looks at the single cake on his plate with a minor amount of suspicion. 

"You're buttering us up," he says. "You're, uh, you're not gonna ask me to be your best man, are you, because that would be... just incredibly awkward." 

Dan laughs and says "No." Anne giggles slightly hysterically. There is no ring on her finger. 

"So what is this about?" he asks. Venom pauses over the eighth of their cakes to look at Dan and Anne, too. 

Dan clears his throat. "Well, we've been talking things over, and..." He looks at Anne. 

Anne sets her jaw. 

Eddie feels a tiny thread of dread, but V likes Anne. She's not going to say anything terrible. 

"We've been considering, possibly, opening up our relationship," Anne says. "That is, I'm going to be with Dan, that's not gonna change, but if you wanted," she looks away, she squinches up her face, she looks at Dan as if to confirm something, and then she says, "We could date too. Potentially. You and I. Eddie." 

"Uh." Eddie's brain feels stuck, but it's actually processing a lot of things very fast. Venom soothes it with their own calm. This was not entirely unexpected. 

"It's totally fine if you don't. Want to," she clarifies, after the silence has extended too long. "I have Dan. I like having you as a friend again. I missed that, you know?" 

Eddie clears his throat this time, trying to fill the space, to buy himself time. He hadn't wanted to tell them this yet, but... 

"It's not that I..." He winces. "Listen. I'm with Venom." 

Anne blinks. "You're, uh... you're dating V?" 

"Yeah," Eddie says, warming to the topic. He had wanted to tell them, but wasn't sure how they'd react. Now that polyamory is out there in the aether, though, it feels easier, somehow, more normal to talk about how happy he is with the alien symbiote thingy sharing his brainspace. "Yeah, we... I really love them, you know? They know, well, pretty much everything about me, more than you ever did, and trust me, that's not by choice... or at least, it wasn't, to start with. But it's been. It's been a relief, sometimes. It's been amazing, and... and very hot," he says, sort of trying to stop himself and sort of not. "But I'll spare you the details." 

**"Why?"** Venom asks. **"It's a very pleasant topic. You said pleasant topics are allowed."**

"Yeah, well, I don't know if they'd find it as pleasant as we do, babe," Eddie tells them. 

**"I don't see why not,"** Venom says. **"Especially Anne."**

"You, uh, you really wanna share all that?" Eddie asks. 

**"That, and more,"** Venom agrees. 

Eddie makes a strangled noise that can't quite be translated into English words. 

**"Why are you hesitating? She is wonderful! She could be ours!"**

Eddie frowns at them in consternation, then turns to Dan and Anne. "Excuse me, I need to have a chat with this idiot." 

They retreat into their mindspace for a quiet conversation. 

_She's no one's but her own, V. Who she's dating doesn't change that._

**But we are yours and you are ours.**

_Yeah,_ Eddie agrees. _But that's different._

**Different how?**

_You know everything. Everything I need, everything I want. Normal human relationships aren't like that._

**It is with you. It could be with Anne.**

Eddie sighs. _Listen, V, do you want to date Anne?_

**We want to date Anne.**

_No, do_ you _?_

**There is no me without you.**

_Stop being obtuse and answer the question. Do you love Anne the way you love me?_

**...No.**

_Well, I don't want my thoughts to be all tangled up with hers and I don't think she does either. So humans are more complicated. Okay?_

**Okay. But you want her. And she wants you.**

Eddie's thoughts go soft and warm for a moment. _You know you're enough, right? I don't need anyone but you._

Venom's response isn't in words. All Eddie gets is a sort of baffled incomprehension of the concept of "enough" from a member of a species who are all over the whole conquest, domination, consumption thing. 

_I love you._

**I know, Eddie.**

_You have to understand that if we do this, it doesn't make Annie ours._

**Because she will still be Dan's.**

_No. Because she will still be her own._

**But the concept of us being each other's doesn't bother you. You still want Anne to be ours. Why don't you take her?**

_Because I respect her. Because she loves Dan._

**She does. I don't understand why. You are more than adequate. You are perfect, Eddie.**

_I'm enough?_ Eddie counters. 

**You are everything,** Venom tells him. **You are everything I want to call mine about this world. This is your world and there are many things in it that you desire.**

_Yeah. Well. Annie might feel that way too. Actually you'd be in a better position than I would to know._

**Yes. I felt what she feels for Dan. I did not understand it. I did not take the time to analyze it. All that mattered was you.**

_So let's respect what she feels, huh?_ Eddie asks. _Because whatever else she is, she's my friend._

**...Acceptable,** V responds. **Can I have your lava cake?** They offer to share the sensation of its taste, and Eddie agrees absently, too wrapped up in other thoughts to really register the difference. 

"Okay," he tells Dan and Anne. "I think we've gotten a few things ironed out. So, V isn't looking to date anyone but me, but they are definitely in favor of the whole me-and-Annie thing." 

"So," says Dan, "they're definitely not going to, say, bite off Anne's head, or mine, in a jealous rage?" 

Venom, licking the last of the ganache from their teeth, glares at Dan. **"No,"** they say sourly. 

"It sounds like you still have some reservations," Anne says, looking at Dan. "I thought we'd cleared all this up." 

"Well," Dan says, having the grace to look embarrassed, "to be fair, I wasn't aware at the time that alien symbiotes were even inclined to romantic relationships, let alone that Eddie's dating his." 

**"You don't trust us with Anne because of that,"** Venom says thoughtfully. 

"I want to," Dan says. He seems to mean it. 

**"I have an idea,"** Venom tells him. 

_"No,"_ Eddie says. 

**"Why?"**

"Because even if he agrees, which he won't, because he's an upstanding, sensible citizen, he'd have no idea what he'd be getting into." 

**"More than you did. Even more than Anne did."**

"Uh," says Dan, "if you're talking about my playing host to Venom for a short time... I was, actually, thinking of asking." 

The other two humans in the room turn incredulous eyes on him. 

"What?" says Dan. "The two of you don't seem to have suffered any major ill effects. And I'm curious." 

**"That would be cool,"** V says. **"I have been wondering about you, myself."**

Eddie and Anne look thoughtful. 

* * *

They decide to put off the whole operation for at least a day, in case anyone (Dan) decides to back out. But the next afternoon he seems practically bouncy, even more excited about the whole thing than he already had been. So. It's a go. 

Eddie reaches out as if to shake Dan's hand, and Venom slides over like some kind of ectoplasmic eel. 

Dan blinks, watching his hand where Venom had disappeared into him. 

"How do you feel?" Anne asks Venom!Dan. 

"Hungry." 

Dan's brain is quick and precise, less about words and conversations than Eddie's, more about lightning-quick decisions, observations and scientific facts. It makes their inner conversation more like a quick-flowing stream where Venom and Eddie is more like the patter of raindrops. 

**Hungry.** _How can I help?_ **Human heads?** _No._

There's steel, Dan means it, not like Eddie. 

**Chocolate?** _For phenethylamine? Maybe we can do better._ **How?** _Well, it's generally frowned upon to start by recommending an MAOI, so... vigorous exercise?_ **Hmm. Climb tall things?** _Let's not. I don't trust you quite enough for that yet._ **Go fast? Chase?** _Hmm. Horses. Reminds me. Once read an abstract that indicated that high levels of phenethylamine in horses were potentially dangerous and could lead to laminitis. Trying to make a horse secrete high levels of phenethylamine in the first place could be dangerous for the horse, though._ **We could fix it after.** _...Maybe._

It's only been a few seconds, they realize, when Anne continues. "So are you having any... weird... cravings? Or anything?" she asks. 

"Yeah," Venom!Dan says. "I really want to ride a horse." 

"You're not gonna eat the horse, are you?" 

"Probably not," Venom!Dan decides. 

"Okay," says Anne. "Okay. Let's go ride a horse." 

Dan hasn't ridden a horse since before med school. Since back when he was actually considering being a vet. But he still remembers the basics of how and where. Still has some contacts, he hopes, that can hook them up with a horse to ride for the afternoon. 

It's interesting, navigating the world with a curious alien ride-along. Dan gets the distinct sensation that Venom is on their best behavior, not taking over limbs or eating bits out of organs no matter how tempting it gets. They could, easily, and Dan knows it. 

They are, however, being extraordinarily open with their emotions, projecting loudly even the things like their doubt about Dan's suitability as a mate for Anne, and their hunger for unacceptable things. And they also seem to be poking around in Dan's brain, looking for things. 

Dan sort of wants to know what would happen if he asked them to stop, but he doesn't actually want them to stop. Dan would also like to be an open book in this exchange. If they are closed off with each other, this whole endeavor won't be worthwhile. 

Dan is incredibly easily distracted, right now, but he still manages to call in a favor with a friend and borrow them a horse to ride as soon as they can arrive. 

He lets Anne drive. 

Eddie seems to be distracted by his lack of distractions, constantly stopping and looking around and patting his pockets as if he feels like he's forgotten something, and then realizing what he's lost and where it is. 

Whenever V's attention isn't on food or the contents of Dan's head, it's on Eddie, making sure he's okay and noticing how remarkable he is. 

(If Dan hadn't already had a tiny bit of a crush on the star of the Brock Report, well, he would now.) 

Dan isn't familiar with this particular horse, but he knows the basics, knows how to take care of the animals and put them at ease. He saddles up and mounts, and it's like it always was, except for how there's a fascinated predator in his head, watching his every move. 

Dan takes them out onto the trails, into fields full of grass and wildflowers, and the wind is sweet against their face, and they both start to really enjoy themselves. But there's still that intense curiosity, the heavy knowledge that they have the capability of touching the animal on a deeper level, learning more. 

Cautiously, curiously, Venom!Dan lets a tendril of themselves slide down the horse's neck and into its skin. 

It's incredible. 

When V had been hosted by one of Earth's prey animals before, it hadn't been like this. The rabbits had been caged, in the sterile glass of the lab, not out here in the open grassland with the heat of the sun and an animal who knows its territory and is comfortable in it. 

The horse feels exhilaration. And that exhilaration is absolutely delectable. 

They run and run, until Dan and the horse are exhausted, and then V tweaks this and fixes that, and they run some more. Dan even tries a few jumps, although they hadn't been his forte before. He's in tune with the horse, and himself, in a way he couldn't be without V. 

V likes the jumps. Even aside from the chemicals they produce in human and horse. 

After a few hours, Dan has to insist on going back to find Eddie and Anne, and go home. They find the two chatting and holding hands as they wander around the perimeter of the stables. They both think it's sweet. Dan is surprised to find that he has more jealousy in him than Venom does, at the sight. 

V wants to do this again. Dan agrees. 

It's a shock when they stop being so in tune. 

As they're putting the saddle away, V says, **Maybe next time you can find us a horse we can eat.**

_No!_

It isn't steel, like before, when Venom asked about humans. But the thought is shocked, and somewhat disgusted. 

**Why is this different than eating other animals?** V asks, confused. **Eddie has tried to explain to me about pets being different than farm animals and I cannot understand why we cannot eat this horse as it seems to be classified under farm animals.**

God, Venom sounds a lot more precise and scientific when they have access to Dan's brain. 

Dan tries to put his thoughts in order without speaking aloud, but no dice. How does Eddie handle this? Well, Eddie comes across as the kind of eccentric asshole who just talks to himself, the creative kind, and Dan has this feeling he can't pull that off. He thinks through various ways of speaking aloud without looking like he's gone nuts. 

Oh. 

Dan starts singing. 

[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDfzhwb6cqImw&v=fzhwb6cqImw) _"Sometimes you find_  
_You can't cross the line on the course_  
_Some things are best left_  
_Between a girl and her horse"_

Okay, so he's still getting funny looks, but he feels like those looks are more in line with the "goofy but lovable doctor" image he's acquired, and that he can live with. 

Eddie, on the other hand, is looking at them like he knows exactly what just happened and Dan is a bona fide genius. 

Venom seems to get the idea that Dan is trying to convey, both from the lyrics and from the emotional context that it carries in Dan's head. Venom also seems to like his singing voice. 

They spend the whole drive home singing to themselves. 

* * *

No matter how much Venom had loved the horse and wanted to stay, they are also thrilled to go back to Eddie and take him home so that they can get thoroughly reacquainted. 

Dan is also glad to have his headspace back and in working order, although it's a little too quiet, that first evening, before he gets accustomed to it again. 

Venom had been... not a tame thing, Dan decides, but a person, with faults and desires and limits. Dan decides that, on the whole, those are probably healthy qualities for a being to have, especially a being in a romantic relationship with a human. 

"So," Anne says, turning to him. "What's the verdict?" 

Dan sighs contemplatively, then says seriously, "You have my blessing." 

"You got what you wanted from Venom?" 

"We both learned a lot. I think you're right about them. They're good for Eddie, and Eddie is good for them. But those two could both use more people in their corner. More people who know them like we do, and love them." 

"Huh," says Anne. 

She's got that knowing look she gets when she thinks she's figured something out, but isn't sure enough about it yet to say anything aloud. 

Dan doesn't push. 

* * *

After Eddie and Venom have indulged in each other thoroughly, they spend some time going over that day with each other. V shows Eddie a lot of what he learned from Dan's thoughts, but some things were open to Venom only because of a code of honor which seems to demand those things be kept secret, in turn. 

They think. It's all very complex. But it's got harder edges than the rules by which Eddie lives his own human life. 

_There's a lot more to Dan than meets the eye, huh?_ Eddie muses. 

**Yes,** V agrees. **The three of you all hide your feelings in different ways, for different reasons. Reporter reasons, lawyer reasons, and doctor reasons. All different.**

_I guess we're all pretty different people,_ Eddie thinks, somewhat wistfully. 

**You all solve puzzles to make your world better,** V says. **I would think it was a human thing, but Maria hated puzzles.**

They're both solemn for a moment, remembering her and how she just wanted to live, and to sing, and to be left in peace. How she got pain instead. 

_So,_ Eddie thinks, _are we on team Dan now? He did hurt you with the MRI._

**Only because he did not know I was a person. Dan does not knowingly harm people. When I am part of Dan, I do not knowingly harm people. And also because bodily autonomy.**

It's one of the more labyrinthine concepts that Venom was able to pluck whole from Dan's head, because it's a solid decision tree with well-worn edges now, in all the ways a surgeon deals with autonomy - balancing the life of a patient against the free will of a donor, the life of an expecting mother versus the potential of her unborn offspring. And the life of a patient versus the potential personhood of their alien stowaway. 

_Wow,_ Eddie thinks, seeing the concept in crystal clarity along with V. _You, uh... you really learned something, huh?_

Venom agrees. **He's not so bad.**

_Not a loser?_

**Not at all.**

_You, uh... you want to spend more time in his head?_ Eddie thinks, a little hesitantly. 

**Maybe. Once in a while. Not most of the time. I prefer losers. I prefer us.**

_Back at you, parasite._

They reaffirm their bond, their love, no matter what else is to come in the rest of their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm qwanderer on tumblr and dreamwidth as well, but I've been focusing on my novels lately. Speaking of which, if you want to read more of me writing about alien tentacle monsters getting involved with/mind-bonded to/healing their beloved human loser, I may have a book for you! [Check out my website yo](http://irenewendywode.com/post/177328097556/myrdu-is-an-avlan-part-of-a-proud-warrior-race)


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